The folding phone market is Samsung’s for the taking because there’s no viable competitors in the US, according to analysts.

“Phones with folding displays continue to whet consumer appetites in a stagnating smartphone market,” Anisha Bhatia, senior analyst at GlobalData, says in a new podcast from the research firm. “The only real competitor to Samsung is Lenovo’s Motorola Razr in the US and Europe.”

Apple reclaimed the title of being the world’s biggest smartphone company from Samsung at the beginning of the year – and did so without launching its own folding phone.

“This is still a very niche category,” says Bhatia. “It’s not mainstream these folding phones so we may not see anything from Apple yet. Apple is doing more on virtual reality [and] augmented reality.”

Bathia notes that while companies like Huawei and Beidou sell folding phones in China, the US market has so far remained untouched by folding phones, save those provided by Samsung.

However, that hasn’t stopped the South Korean company from investing to dominate the market. Samsung has just unveiled its two latest models of its flip phones to do just that.

“Samsung is going from strength to strength in foldables with its new Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 phones, cementing its position in this innovative hardware segment,”

The two flip phones are named Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4. The Z Flip 4 is priced at £999 for 128GB storage, 8GB RAM and a 3,700mAh battery. The Z Fold 4 has more of a tablet-like feel. It is priced at £1,649 for 256GB storage 12GB RAM and a 4,400mAh battery.

Both Samsung flip phones have a unique Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor and Gorilla Glass Victus Plus.

Since, Samsung flip phones have little competition, it can shape the market however it wants, says Bhartia.

Representatives of Samsung has told Verdict that foldable sales are predicted to reach 126.3 million by 2025, according to research from Strategy Analytics.

GlobalData is the parent company of Verdict and its sister publications.